Most people know Paul Lieberstein as Toby, the sad sack, low key HR rep at Dunder-Mifflin and arch nemesis of Michael Scott. However, he is also a writer for the show and, in recent seasons, an executive producer, which means he's one of the people running the show at this point. He's also been talking about the future of The Office recently. His talk has been entirely hypothetical, and if you were to ask the question, "Is this anything?" my answer may have to be, "No." As such, I was reticent to even mention it for a while, but I figure I will leave it up to you, the dear reader, as to how much relevance Lieberstein's statements have.
For starters, his ideal choice to replace Steve Carell on the show is... Harvey Keitel. Which seems... kind of odd. Could he do it? Maybe. Would he do it? He did Life on Mars, so I'm going to say yes. He's not exactly known for his comedy as much as his brutal, bleak, occasionally unpleasant dramatic roles, but that doesn't mean he couldn't fit into the show's dynamic. While I doubt Keitel ends up being the guy, the fact that one of the executive producers is in favor of it makes it at least a possibility.
Lieberstein's other sort of, kind of announcement is that he'd be interested in doing a The Office movie someday down the road when the show is over. Of course, as the plight of the Arrested Development movie has taught us, one man being interested in making it certainly does not guarantee anything. Plus, Lieberstein isn't exactly exuberant of the possibility, and expressed pessimism of even getting a movie done. Still, nevertheless, he said it, so the notion is at least out there. However, somehow this seems even less likely than Harvey Keitel as the new boss at Dunder-Mifflin.
Well, that's all the Office "news" for now. Well, except for the fact that the show returns Thursday, September 23 in its usual 9:00 Eastern time slot. What does the show have in store for Carell's final season? Things will start to unfold in a couple of weeks.
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